Jane Stern

The basis for the movie starring Kathy Bates, Ambulance Girl is an inspiring story by a woman who found, somewhat late in life, that “in helping others I learned to help myself.” Jane Stern was a walking encyclopedia of panic attacks, depression, and hypochondria. Her marriage of more than thirty years was suffering, and she was virtually immobilized by fear and anxiety. As the daughter of parents who both died before she was thirty, Stern was terrified of illness and death, and despite the fact that her acclaimed career as a food and travel writer required her to spend a great deal of time on airplanes, she suffered from a persistent fear of flying and severe claustrophobia. Yet, this fifty-two-year-old writer decided to become an emergency medical technician. Stern tells her story with great humor and poignancy, creating a wonderful portrait of a middle-aged, Woody Allen–ish woman who was “deeply and neurotically terrified of sick and dead people,” but who went out into the world to save other people’s lives as a way of saving her own. Her story begins with the boot camp of EMT training: 140 hours at the hands of a dour ex-marine who took delight in presenting a veritable parade of amputations, hideous deformities, and gross disasters. Jane—overweight and badly out of shape—had to surmount physical challenges like carrying a 250-pound man seated in a chair down a dark flight of stairs. After class she did rounds in the emergency room of a local hospital. Each call Stern describes is a vignette of human nature, often with a life in the balance. From an AIDS hospice to town drunks, yuppie wife beaters to psychopaths, Jane comes to see the true nature and underlying mysteries of a town she had called home for twenty years. Throughout the book we follow her as she gets her sea legs, bonds with the firefighters who become her colleagues, and eventually, comes to be known as Ambulance Girl.

How I Saved Myself By Becoming an EMT

Ambulance Girl

Five years ago Jane Stern was a walking encyclopedia of panic attacks, depression, and hypochondria. Her marriage of more than thirty years was suffering, and she was virtually immobilized by fear and anxiety. As the daughter of parents who both died before she was thirty, Stern was terrified of illness and death, and despite the fact that her acclaimed career as a food and travel writer required her to spend a great deal of time on airplanes, she suffered from a persistent fear of flying and severe claustrophobia. But a strange thing happened one day on a plane that was grounded at the Minneapolis airport for six horrible, foodless, airless hours. A young man on a trip with his classmates suddenly became dizzy and pale because he hadn’t eaten in many hours, and there was no food left on the plane. Without thinking about it, Jane gave him the candy bar that she had in her purse. A short time later the color had returned to his cheeks, the boy was laughing again with his friends, and Jane realized that this one small act of kindness—helping another person who was suffering—had provided her with comfort and a sense of well-being. It was shortly thereafter that this fifty-two-year-old writer decided to become an emergency medical technician, eventually coming to be known as Ambulance Girl. Stern tells her story with great humor and poignancy, creating a wonderful portrait of a middle-aged, Woody Allen–ish woman who was “deeply and neurotically terrified of sick and dead people,” but who went out into the world to save other people’s lives as a way of saving her own. Her story begins with the boot camp of EMT training: 140 hours at the hands of a dour ex-marine who took delight in presenting a veritable parade of amputations, hideous deformities, and gross disasters. Jane—overweight and badly out of shape—had to surmount physical challenges like carrying a 250-pound man seated in a chair down a dark flight of stairs. After class she did rounds in the emergency room of a local hospital, where she attended to a schizophrenic kickboxer who had tried to kill his mother that morning and a stockbroker who was taken off the commuter train to Manhattan with delirium tremens so bad it killed him. Each call Stern describes is a vignette of human nature, often with a life in the balance. From an AIDS hospice to town drunks, yuppie wife beaters to psychopaths, Jane comes to see the true nature and underlying mysteries of a town she had called home for twenty years. Throughout the book we follow her as she gets her sea legs and finally bonds with the burly, handsome firefighters who become her colleagues. At the end, she is named the first woman officer of the department—a triumph we joyously share with her. Ambulance Girl is an inspiring story by a woman who found, somewhat late in life, that “in helping others I learned to help myself.” It is a book to be treasured and shared. From the Hardcover edition.

How I Saved Myself by Becoming an EMT

the coast-to-coast guide to 800 of the best barbecue mjoints, lobster shacks, ice cream parlors, highway diners, and much, much more

Roadfood

Michael Stern

Roy Rogers

Dale Evans

Dale Evans Rogers

Tracing the lives of two actors whose on-screen romance became a real-life marriage, a detailed portrait recounts Roy Rogers's Midwest childhood and years as a singing cowboy, and Dale Evans's experiences as a young singer and dancer. 75,000 first printing. Major ad/promo.

Our Life Story

Happy Trails

Sixties People

Auto Ads

An assortment of western American images, stories, and facts includes cowboy songs, a four-alarm chili recipe, instructions for creasing a cowboy hat, tips on recognizing turquoise quality, and a desert life guide. Reprint. National ad/promo.

Way Out West

From its world-famous breakfasts to California bistro cuisine served at lunch, The Cottage restaurant is the epitome of the California good life.

Southern California Cooking from the Cottage

Documents the Elvis Presley phenomenon, from his music, movies, and life, to the material things he collected and the fans he enraptured

Elvis World

First published in 1977, the original Roadfood became an instant classic. James Beard said, "This is a book that you should carry with you, no matter where you are going in these United States. It's a treasure house of information." Now this indispensable guide is back, in an even bigger and better edition, covering 500 of the country's best local eateries from Maine to California. With more than 250 completely new listings and thorough updates of old favorites, the new Roadfood offers an extended tour of the most affordable, most enjoyable dining options along America's highways and back roads. Filled with enticing alternatives for chain-weary-travelers, Roadfood provides descriptions of and directions to (complete with regional maps) the best lobster shacks on the East Coast; the ultimate barbecue joints down South; the most indulgent steak houses in the Midwest; and dozens of top-notch diners, hotdog stands, ice-cream parlors, and uniquely regional finds in between. Each entry delves into the folkways of a restaurant's locale as well as the dining experience itself, and each is written in the Sterns' entertaining and colorful style. A cornucopia for road warriors and armchair epicures alike, Roadfood is a road map to some of the tastiest treasures in the United States.

An Eater's Guide to More Than 1,000 of the Best Local Hot Spots and Hidden Gems Across America

Roadfood, 10th Edition

An amazing gastronomic journey across America's heartland, this guide stops at the coziest, friendliest, and busiest diners, cafes and roadside stands in the country. Includes recipes and 75 photos.

The Heart and Soul of America's Great Roadside Restaurants

Blue Plate Specials & Blue Ribbon Chefs

A witty tribute to the classic and fabled examples of American kitsch-- a guide to the world of the tacky and outlandish in American pop culture.

The Encyclopedia of Bad Taste

"The Cottage exudes the upmarket serenity of old LaJolla. Sunlight streaming in the windows makes pale yellows glow; mellow jazz recordings waft through the dining room and into the palm-shaded patio; pretty waitresses in short shorts carry fruit-garnished dinners of salubrious California food," says author Michael Stern. Southern California Cooking from The Cottage captures the romance, the relaxation, and the good life of The Cottage itself. Included are the recipes that have made The Cottage one of Southern California's most beloved restaurants with breakfast items such as muffins, coffee cakes, Greek, Italian, and seafood omelets, Belgian waffles, and oatmeal pancakes. From the lunch and dinner menu there are light Southern California seafood and pasta dishes, signature soups and salads, as well as traditional American classics. The book includes an eight-page color insert. The Cottage is the ninth restaurant to be chosen by Jane and Michael Stern for their Roadfood cookbook series, which celebrates the finest regional restaurants in the United States.

Casual Cuisine from Old La Jolla's Favorite Beachside Bungalow

A RoadfoodTM Cookbook The colorful history of El Charro Café and the 150 recipes for vibrant, exciting Mexican food make this book as unique and entertaining as the 80-year-old restaurant itself. It is rumored that in the 1940s, founder Monica Flin would sit on the El Charro patio, sipping martinis from teacups and playing cards with John Wayne, who was in Tucson to film westerns. Today the restaurant is run by Carlotta Flores and her husband, Ray. The El Charro Café, America's oldest family-operated Mexican restaurant, is located in a house built in the 1890s by Monica's father (who was also Carlotta's great-grandfather). The restaurant's signature dish is Carne Seca Beef, a Tucson passion. The beef is cured high above the restaurant's patio where strips of thin-sliced tenderloin hang in an open metal cage. Old favorites and creative new Mexican dishes that are enjoyable to cook and to serve fill the book. The greatest restaurants in America are its wonderful independent regional restaurants. And there are no greater experts on America's regional restaurants than Michael and Jane Stern. "Coast to coast," said the New York Times, "they know where to find the freshest lobster rolls, the fluffiest pancakes, the crispiest catfish." Rutledge Hill Press is launching a new series of RoadfoodTM Cookbooks, each with recipes, pictures, and the history of one of America's greatest regional restaurants.

Flavors of Tucson from America's Oldest Family-Operated Mexican Restaurant

El Charro CafT Cookbook

No restaurant defines Yankee cooking as well as Boston's Durgin-Park. In an atmosphere of clattering dishes, conversation, and sharp-tongued waitresses, it serves its time-hallowed specialties: roast beef that may be the best anywhere, incredible quantities of Boston baked beans, New England boiled dinners, chowder, apple pie, apple pan dowdy, and hot cornbread. Few restaurants can claim a tradition as long and entrenched as Durgin-Park. Founded in 1827, it has had only four owners. Chef Tom Ryan has worked there for 40 years and leaned how to cook "the Durgin-Park way." Many of the legendary waitresses who display an "attitude" towards the customers have worked at Durgin-Park for their entire careers. Franklin Roosevelt ate there when he went to Harvard, Calvin Coolidge was a regular, and Teddy Roosevelt satisfied his hearty appetite there, as did his sons. The Durgin-Park Cookbook contains not only Tom Ryan's recipes for his classic New England dishes, but the stories and photos make reading the book like a visit to the Boston landmark. Its history, its traditions, its atmosphere, and its commitment to quality are all described and illustrated. This important addition to the RoadfoodTM Cookbook series is sure to be a favorite with people in New England and throughout the country. Other books in the series include El Charro Café Cookbook, The Blue Willow Inn Cookbook, and (coming next January) Louie's Backyard Cookbook (from Key West, Florida).

Classic Yankee Cooking in the Shadow of Faneuil Hall

Durgin-Park Cookbook

This revised and updated edition of the classic Square Meals is a celebration of American food from the 1920s through the 1950s, a salute to the days of lunch counters and the times when Sunday dinner was hearty and special.

America's Favorite Comfort Food Cookbook

Square Meals

Traces the development of cuisine in the United States from 1946 to 1971

Classic Recipes, Deluxe Delights, Flamboyant Favorites, and Swank "company" Food from the '50s and '60s

American Gourmet

Chicken and Dumplings, Fried Green Tomatoes, Cornbread, Collard Greens, and Sugared Pecans! By any measure, the Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle, Georgia is as southern as you can get. Proprietor Billie Van Dyke says that no one is allowed to leave hungry, and certainly no one should after feasting on a variety of Southern salads, meats, vegetables, breads and desserts and, of course, sweet tea, the "Champagne of the South," and lemonade. Housed in a gloriously restored southern mansion, The Blue Willow Inn is home to Southern hospitality and charm at its best. The Blue Willow Inn Cookbook offers delicious Southern recipes, vintage pictures from the early days of Social Circle, and fascinating anecdotes about the restaurant. It's a book that's wonderful for reading or for cooking. The greatest restaurants in America are its wonderful independent regional restaurants. And there are no greater experts on America's regional restaurants than Michael and Jane Stern. "Coast to coast," said the New York Times, "they know where to find the freshest lobster rolls, the fluffiest pancakes, the crispiest catfish."

The Blue Willow Inn Cookbook

The owners of two bullmastiffs bring the world of dog breeding and dog shows to life, offering a portrait of the canine show circuit and following one kennel's dogs through a year's worth of contests

A Very Human Book About Dogs and Dog Shows

Dog Eat Dog

The authors present meals that they believe to be best examples in various food genres, in a treasury of profiles and informational sidebars that reveals where to find the ultimate regional specialties.

Jane Stern

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